Yarn feeder in a hand knitting machine



Dec. 13, 1960 TATSUE SUZUKI ET Al. 2,963,889

YARN FEEDER IN A HAND KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 16, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS TATSUE SUZUKI 'P'IC\-\\7.\ SUZUKI M Pm-dRQEYS 5 1960 TATSUE SUZUKI ETAL 2,963,889

YARN FEEDER IN A HAND KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 16, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 6. ,0

FIG. 7.

FIG. 9.

INVENTORS TATSUE SUZUKI ICHIZI SUZUKI V but (M3- n AT TORNEYS:

Dec. 13, 1960 TATsuE SUZUKI ET AL 2,963,889

YARN FEEDER IN A HAND KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 16, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. I Z

I27 v I25 I25 I23 1/7 INVENTORS TATSUE SUZUKI ICHIZI SUZUKI ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent YARN FEEDER IN A HAND KNITTING MACHINE Tatsue Suzuki and Ichizi Suzuki, both of Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka-ken, Japan, assignors to ARS Amiki Seisaku Kabushiki Kaisha, Shizuoka-ken, Japan Filed Apr. 16, 1 958, Ser. No. 728,919

Claims. (Cl. 66127)' This invention relates to an improvement in a hand knitting machine, and particularly to a yarn feeder in a hand knitting machine.

Heretofore, hand knitting machines have been provided with a single feeder for feeding a yarn. Accordingly, in order to knit a fabric with two or more kinds of yarns, it has been necessary to remove a yarn from a feeder and substitute another yarn in the feeder, and such substitution must be carried out each time the yarn is changed.

' One object of this invention is' to provide a hand knitting machine provided with ameans whereby at least two kinds of yarns maybe knitted one after another into a knitted fabric without removing a yarn from the means or adding another yarn to said means during knitting.

Another object of this invention is to provide a'hand knitting machine whereby at least two kinds of yarns each being colored differently from the other may be knitted one after another into a knitted-fabric at willby a simple operation.

Still another object of this invention isto provide a hand knitting machine whereby multi-colored knitted fabric may be knitted with a group of yarns, each being colored dififerentl'y from the others; keeping a high efli-' ciency in operation of the machine.

According to this invention, the hand knitting machine comprises a plurality of knitting needles having hooks, a plurality of sinker needles arranged alternately with the needles, and a carriage adapted'to slide across said knitting needles supplying a yarn thereto through a feeder adjustably attached to said carriage, so as to co-' operate said knitting needles with said sinker needles in such a manner that said knitting needles approach said sinker needles successively, catch said yarn, and then recede from said sinker needles, and further comprises at least an additional feeder which may be substituted for the first-named feeder by transferring the feeders as a unit in such a manner that, when one feeder is in an operative position at the point where the needles are in the yarn receiving position, the other feederis iii-anilioperative position spaced from such point.

The invention will be better understood and other objects and additional advantages of the invention will become apparent upon perusal of the following description taken in connection with the drawings, and the scope of the invention will be defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. l is a partial plan View of a hand knitting machine, illustrating essential parts thereof, and incorporating one embodiment of the iuvention multiple yarn feeder.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of two feeders thereof.

Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective views showing the two feeders in operation alternately.

Fig. 6 is a view, similar to Fig. 1, illustratinganother embodiment of the multiple yarn feeder.

Fig. 8 is a diametric sectional view through tli thimble of Fig. 6. v

Fig. 9 is a partial perspective view of a portion of the thimble shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

Fig. 10 is a section on the line 1ll10 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a holder forming part of-th feeder of Fig. 6. p

Figs. 12 and 13 are views, similar to Fig. 6, illustra't-' ing the operation of this embodiment of the feeder.

Fig. 14 is a view, similar to Fig. 1, of another embodiment of the multiple yarn feeder.

Fig. 15 is a view, similar to Fig. 14, illustrating another position of the feeder thereof.

Fig. 16 is a side elevation view, partly in section; illustrating a feeding plate of Figs. 14 and 15 and associated parts. r

Fig. 17 is a transverse sectional view through the feeding plate shown in Fig. 16.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, a body 11 is formed of sheet metal bent to form a trough having afront wall and a rear wall. A needle bed 13 is fixed on the body 11, said needle bed 13 having rounded front and rear edges 15 and a plurality of longitudinally extending perforations 17. The rounded edges 15 are parallel with each other and serve to guide-a carriage 19.

A plurality of latch-type knitting needles 21', of known construction, each having a butt 23 are slidably' arranged in spaced relation under the needle bed'13. The shanks of the needles 21 are slidablyinserted into aligned holes provided in the front and rear walls of the body 11, respectively. The butts 23 of needles 21 project through the perforations 17 of the'needle'b'ed 13; A sink e'r case 35 is fixed on the front side of the body 11,- extending transversely. A plurality of L-shaped sinkerneedles 37 are fixed on the sinker case 35 at their rear ends, being' extended upwards and arranged alternately with' the knitting needles 21. An adjusting screw 49 is provided to adjust the stitch size which is indicated by a measuring plate 51. In order to keep the size'of the stitch constant, clamp knobs 53 are provided. A raising cam knob 55 is provided to make a raising cam idle whereby the knitting needles will not be advanced to approach the sinker needles when the carriage is slid transversely. Knitting cam levers 57 are provided to make knitting cams idle or replace them by means of displacing the levers 57 along slots 59, respectively;

The carriage 19 is manually operated by a carriage handle 61 secured thereto by fixtures 63. An end of an arm 39 is fixed on the carriage 1'9 and a fabric presser 41 is fixed to the arm 39; One end of a combination plate 65 is riveted tiltably on the carriage 19 and the other end of the combination plate 65'is providedwitha hook which is adapted to co-operate with a screw 67 mounted on the other end of the arm 39 so as to hold the fabric presser 41 by two holding means, the arin 39 and the combination plate 65. The knitting needles 21 have a tendency to be drawn upwardly by the yarnduring the knitting operation and, for this reason, a

needle keeper 69 is secured on the fixture 63 and over laterally from the holder 73. When tab is lifted, the

front end of the holder 73 is deflected upwardly to a somewhat higher position.

According to this invention, an attachment 77' is'tittached to the frontendofthe holder 73 by'rneansof' two wing screws 79 which are threaded into the front Patented Dec. 13, 1960 end of the holder 73 at two points aligned laterally and may cooperate with a slot 81 provided in the attachment v77 so as to position the center of the latter either at the right-hand side or left-hand side of the holder -73.

Screws 79 may, if desired, be wing screws-for easy manipulation, Both lateral ends of the attachment 77 are bent to form two ears 83 for operating'the attachment77. Two yarn feeders45 and 46 are protruded integrally from two points near both lateral ends of the lower edge of the attachment 77. Each of' the yarn feeders 45 and 46 is'of rearwardly opening channel shape and connected with the attachment 77 by the rear end of the upper flange 85 and 86 of the channel. The

lower flange 87 and 88 of the channel is somewhat larger 7 than the upper flange 85 and 86 and the lateral ends of the former are protruded laterally into horns 89. Both of the upper and lower flanges of each channel are provided with laterally elongated guide perforations,-,ar1 upper guide 91 and '92 and a lower guide 93 and 94, which communicate with each other by means of'yarn slots 95 and 96 provided across the web of each channel.

When the attachment 77 is located at one laterally offset position, for instance, at its right-most position by virtue of the co-operation of the two screws 79 with the slot 81, the leftfeeder 45 is positioned above the point where the hooks of the knitting needles 21 receive yarn, and in alignment with the center of the carriage 19 so as to be properly positioned to supply a yarn to the hooks of the actuated knitting needles 21 through the laterally elongated guide perforations 93 provided in the lower flange of the'left feeder 45. At the same time, the right feeder 46 is positioned above an area where the hooks of knitting needles 2] do not receive yarn, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Slot 81 is so positioned and proportioned relative to member 73 and feeders 45, 46

that, at either limit of movement of member 77, one of the feeders is at the yarn feeding point and the other feeder is substantially spaced from said point.

In operation, a yarn 97, for example, a red tinted yarn,'is extended through theupper guide 91 and the lower guide 93 of the left feeder 45 and another yarn 98, for example, a white yarn, has been extended through the upper guide 92 and the lower guide 94 of the right feeder 46. When 'the attachment 77 is set with its left feeder 45 in yarn feeding position, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, if the carriage 19 is slid leftwards, the successive knitting needles 21 are moved outwardly gradually and successively as the butts 23 are pushed by an edge of the raising cam while the hooks of the knitting needles 21, having been closed by their latches, are successively opened by pivoting the latch rearwards when the tip of the latch is engaged with the left horn 87 of the feeder 45. After each knitting needle 21 has reached its outermost position, its butt 23 is pushed by the edge of the left knitting cam so as to move the knitting needle rearwardly. At this time, the yarn 97 supplied through the right end of the lower guide 93 is caught and drawn rear-wards by the open hook of the knitting needle21. Thus a stitch is made between a knitting needle and the two sinker needles 37 adjacent either side thereof.

I Meantime, the other yarn 98, for example, a White yarn, is not caught by a knitting needle 21 because the feeder 46 is positioned out of the area where the hooks of the knitting needles arrive and from where they recede, regardless of the displacement of the carriage 19.

When the carriage 19 is being displaced rightwards, the right knitting cam'acts on the butts of the knitting needles 21 and the yarn 97 is fed from the left end of the lower guide 93 of the left feeder 45. However, the right feeder 46 is still positioned in the'inactive position where the feeder 46 does not co-operate with the books of the knitting needles 2!.

When the attachment 77 is transferred to bring right feeder 46 into action by being pushed on the right ear 83 and slid along the slot 81, as shown in Fig. 5, the right feeder 46 is brought into an active position so that the yarn 98 can be caught by the hooks of the knitting needles 21. It may be seen easily that the yarn 98 is thus worked into a knitted fabric but the yarn 97 is left within an inactive area where it cannot be caught by the needle hooks. M.

In order to make a two-colored knitted fabric by the hand knitting machine. according to this invention, it is face of holder 73' around the periphery of hole 101.

only necessary to transfer the attachment 77 selectively between its two positions withthe two feeders 45, 46 carrying differently colored yarns.

In order to obtain a multi-colored knitted fabric, a hand knitting machine provided with several feeders may be designed in accordance with this invention. An attachment having several feeders may he slid through several positions with respect to the single holder. Alternatively such an attachment may be adapted to revolve on the holder.

-A revolving or rotary type of multiple yarn feeder is illustrated in Figs. 6 through 13. Referring to these figures, a holder 7 3 is mounted on the carriage in the same manner as is the holder 73 of Figs. 1 through '5. This holder has a relatively large circular aperture 101 in its outer end which receives a generally cylindrical thimble 103 mounted rotatably in the holder. Thimble 103 has a flange 105 at its upper edge which rests on the upper sur- Flange 101 has an outer peripheral edge 107 which may be formed with an indentation, if desired. A plurality of circumferentially spaced legs 109 extend downwardly from the main portion of feeder 103, being preferably uniformly spaced circumferentially. The lower end of each leg 109 is bent inwardly and formed with an eye 111 surrounded by a spiral portion 113 to provide for easy threading of yarn into the eye 111.

In operation, the feeder is rotated so that only one yarn feeding element 115 is positioned in yarn feeding relation to the'needles 21. Thus, in Fig. 12, the feeder is oriented so that only the feeding element for the yarn A is arranged in yarn feeding relation with the needles 21. Fig. 13 illustrates the condition in which the thimble 103 has been rotated so that only the feeding element 115 for the yarn B is in yarn feeding relation with the needles 21. Easy, simple and quick selection of the yarn to be fed is effected by merely rotating the thimble 103.

Figs. 14 through 17 illustrate a further embodiment of the invention comprising slidably mounted individual feeders movable longitudinally'along radii extending from the yarn feeding point. Referring to this embodiment of the invention, the individual feeders are 'adjustably mounted on the fabric presser 41' carried by the plates 65 and 39'. Presser 41 is so arranged that the rear edge thereof is positioned below the outer ends of needles 21. A plurality of brackets 117, shown by way of example as three in number, are mounted to extend upwardly from the forward or outer edge of the fabric presser 41'. Each of these brackets 117 slidably mounts a feeding plate 119 secured to the bracket 117 by means of a set screw 121 extending through a longitudinal slot 123 in their respective feeding plate and secured in bracket 117. The bracket has guide rails 125 along its longitudinal edges for maintaining proper alignment of the feeder 119. Each feeding plate 119 has an aperture 111 in its inner end and a flange 127 at its outer end to facilitate sliding of the feeding plate.

As shown in Fig. 14, the central feeding plate 119 is shown in yarn feeding relation with the needles 21, with the two outer feeding plates 119 being retracted. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 15, the center feedingplate 119 has been retracted and the right hand feeding plate 119 has been advanced. Thus, in Fig. 14, the yarn B is fed tothe needles 21 whereas, in Fig. 15, only the yarn C is fed to the needles 21. ,Selection of the yarn to be fed is easily and simply effected by loosening the screws 121 and sliding the appropriate feeder into the operator position with the other two feeders being retracted. The screws 121 are then retightened.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, modifications thereof will readily occur to those skilled in the ant. It should be understood therefore that the invention is not limited to the particular arrangement disclosed but that the appended claims are intended to cover all modifications which do not depart from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a hand knitting machine including a plurality of latch-type knitting needles having butts, a plurality of sinker needles arranged for cooperation with said knitting needles, a carriage slidably mounted for reciprocation across said needles, cam means on said carriage cooperable with the knitting needle butts to successively advance said knitting needles to a yarn receiving position as each needle is aligned with a yarn feeding point on the carriage and then to retract said knitting needles; the improvement comprising plural yarn feeders mounted on said carriage for movement in a horizontal plane relative thereto and above the knitting needles, each of said yarn feeders being movable between a first limiting position in which it is aligned with the feeding point on said carriage to feed its respective yarn to the needles advanced at such feeding point and a second limiting position in which such yarn feeder is spaced substantially from said knitting point and out of operative relation with the knitting needles.

2. A hand knitting machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said yarn feeders are conjointly movable as a unit relative to said carriage.

3. A hand knitting machine as claimed in claim 1 in which there are a pair of yarn feeders mounted at opposite ends of a slide movable longitudinally of the direction of movement of said carriage and having limiting positions in each of which one yarn carrier is aligned with the yarn feeding point of the carriage and the other yarn carrier is spaced substantially longitudinally from such yarn feeding point and out of operative relation with the knitting needles.

4. A hand knitting machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said yarn feeders are mounted in circumferentially spaced relation on a substantially circular yarn carrier rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the plane of movement of said carriage to bring one yarn feeder at a time into alignment with the yarn feeding point of said carriage.

5. A hand knitting machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said yarn feeders are slidably mounted on a bracket supported by said carriage and extending beneath the knitting needles in their advanced position, the yarn feeders being slidable downwardly and inwardly toward such feeding point.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,710,529 Plitz June 14, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 429,663 Germany May 31, 1926 455,686 Germany Feb. 7, 1928 

